One of the top underclassmen performers this past weekend at the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown was Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller linebacker Shane Jones. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound prospect was all over the field in Moeller's big 14-0 win over Pickerington Central. Both teams were highly ranked coming in, but it was Moeller that played the most aggressive.

"We wanted to play hard and we wanted to play fast," Jones said. "The whole week we worked on our defense and stopping the run. Once we stopped the run, we knew we had them. We came out strong and we played good."

Jones played sparingly a year ago as a sophomore but is now one of the leaders of an outstanding defensive unit. Jones is already hearing from a few colleges and interest is almost sure to pick up once some junior film gets out.

"(Interest) is there but I haven't got anything big yet," Jones said. "I've got letters from Wisconsin, I went up to Notre Dame for one of their camps, that was fun."

Jones says he is pretty open at this early stage but does have some ties to two Midwest programs.

"I like them all," he explained, when asked if he had any favorite schools. "I like Michigan State, my brother (Eric Thatcher) went to Pitt and graduated a few years ago, anywhere basically."

Michigan State has been extremely active at Moeller in recent years and Jones is very interested in the Spartans.

"I've been up and I've watched them play a few times and I like the way they play," he said. "I like the stadium and I like the environment that they have."

On the field, Jones is really starting to pick up the mental part of the game and as a result he's playing faster than he did a year ago.

"I think this year I'm playing faster and I've got my reads down faster," he said. "I had a help of help from my coaches, they've done a lot for me."